Supercars – Adelaide 500 Preview

Holden fastest in Practice 1 as Supercars hit the track for the first time in 2020

David Reynolds has opened the 2020 Supercars season by claiming the fastest time in Practice 1 at the Adelaide Street Circuit. 

Reynolds clocked 1.20.68 ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and Will Davison. Chaz Mostert finished with the fourth-fastest time in his new Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore, while Cameron Waters rounded out the top five. Reigning champion Scott McLaughlin was the sixth fastest on track.

Drivers will have two more practice sessions on Friday afternoon before the first qualifying session and Top Ten Shootout for 2020 on Saturday, with Race 1 scheduled for later in the day.

This year, the championship has reverted back to the traditional Holden versus Ford rivalry, with no other manufacturers on the grid. Kelly Racing has spent several months building two brand new Ford Mustangs, after retiring its Nissan Altimas from the Supercars series at the end of last year. The team’s results from Practice 1 were mixed, with drivers Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner finishing 11th and 15th fastest respectively. 

The first Practice of the year wasn’t without drama, with Garry Jacobson colliding with Lee Holdsworth, ending the session two minutes early. The pair made contact exiting the chicane through turns one, two and three. Jacobson blamed himself for the clash.

“I was going too slow. I had a green set of tyres on, was doing brake temp,” he said. 

“When I was going up the hill from Turn 3 to 4 I thought I’ll stay to the right, he’ll go left.

“I saw him struggling in the mirrors and I think it was just a clumsy error on my behalf.”

Holdsworth said he assumed Jacobson would get out of the way.

“I went to go left, he went left, so then I went right and he went right,” he said.

“He straight away said sorry, he stuffed up. We’ll move on.”

There will be four rookies racing in the main series this year, but only three of them will race this weekend. During the off season Bryce Fullwood joined Walkinshaw Andretti United, Brad Jones Racing signed Jack Smith, while Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki moved to Matt Stone Racing. 

Goddard and Kostecki will share the #34 entry. While Goddard will drive this weekend, Kostecki will make his season debut at the Melbourne 400 at Albert Park next month. In Practice 1 Fullwood was the fastest of the rookies, finishing in 13th overall.

There were a number of high-profile driver changes during the off-season. Chaz Mostert swapped his Tickford Racing Ford Mustang for a Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden Commodore, replacing James Courtney. Courtney moved to the new Team Sydney alongside Chris Pither, in his first full-time season since 2016. Jack Le Brocq has taken the fourth Tickford seat, while Scott Pye has joined Mark Winterbottom at Team 18.

Practice 2 will get underway on Friday at 2.05pm local time. 

The 2020 field

#2 Bryce Fullwood – Walkinshaw Andretti United (Holden)

#3 Macauley Jones – Brad Jones Racing (Holden)

#4 Jack Smith – Brad Jones Racing (Holden)

#5 Lee Holdsworth – Tickford Racing (Ford)

#6 Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing (Ford)

#7 Andre Heimgartner – Kelly Racing (Ford)

#8 Nick Percat – Brad Jones Racing (Holden)

#9 David Reynolds – Penrite Racing (Holden)

#12 Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske (Ford)

#14 Todd Hazlewood – Brad Jones Racing (Holden)

#15 Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing (Ford)

#17 Scott McLaughlin – DJR Team Penske (Ford)

#18 Mark Winterbottom – Team 18 (Holden)

#19 James Courtney – Team Sydney (Holden)

#20 Scott Pye – Team 18 (Holden)

#22 Chris Pither – Team Sydney (Holden)

#23 Will Davison – Tickford Racing (Ford)

#25 Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United (Holden)

#34 Zane Goddard/Jake Kostecki – Matt Stone Racing (Holden)

#35 Garry Jacobson – Matt Stone Racing (Holden)

#55 Jack Le Brocq – Tickford Racing (Ford)

#88 Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Holden Racing Team (Holden)

#97 Shane van Gisbergen – Red Bull Holden Racing Team (Holden)

#99 Anton De Pasquale – Penrite Racing (Holden)

By Laura Devoy

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